Unilever win South American title to seal Women's Club World Championship place

Unilever celebrate their victory in Peru

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May
6, 2013 - Brazilian side Unilever Volei won the South American Women's Club
Championship in Lima, securing a place at the FIVB
Club World Championships later in the year.

They defeated Peruvian side
Universidad Cesar Vallejo 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-16) to lift the title, and book
their ticket to Zurich, Switzerland next October, where they will compete
against the best teams from around the globe.

The South American Club
Championship was held over four days in Lima, Peru.

Final

In front of an enthusiastic
Peruvian crowd, both sides were determined to win and reach the Club World
Championship – the most important competition on the volleyball calendar for
club sides.

But the Brazilian team were
dominant from the start, and Unilever's efficient spiking was too much
for Universidad Cesar Vallejo's blockers. They took the first set easily,
25-12.

Successfully motivated by
their coach Natalia Malaga to sharpen up in the second set, the
Peruvian side came back hard, pushing Unilever all the way.

But coach Bernardinho's
Unilever girls proved as effective in defence as in attack, and their blockers
were crucial as they edged the second set 25-23.

They then sealed the win
with a relatively comfortable final set win, 25-16.

Unilever youngster
Gabriella Guimaraes was top scorer in the final, with 16 points, while for
Universidad, Cesar Vallejo, Milagros Moy and Wendy Torres all got an impressive
nine points each.

“We fulfilled our
goal," said Unilever coach Bernardinho after the match. "We
showed a great level of skill, and we worked very hard. This has been a season
of hard work and friendship, winning these titles and our national league. Now
we face new challenges at the Club World Championship."

It was a long but very
exciting fixture, and after nearly two and a half hours of intensive play, the
Chilean girls obtained an historical victory: this was the first time a team
from their country have recorded a podium finish in the South American
Club Championship.

It wasn't easy for the
Chileans, who lost the first two sets, despite them being extremely tight, and
they had to work extremely hard to win the third and fourth sets and level the
match.

The tie-break was also very
tight, with neither team ever gaining a clear lead – but it was the
“Aguilas” who managed to edge ahead and snatch the victory.

The match's top scorer
was Jimena Perez, the Argentine captain of Velez Sarsfield, who got
26 points.

Keith Meneses and Karla
Ortiz scored 25 points each for Boston College. The victory meant Boston had
won two and lost two games over the four days.